Refcodes

In this article:

  1. Creating refcodes
  2. Analyzing and visualizing your refcodes
  3. Using multiple refcodes

Refcodes (short for reference codes) are URL parameters that you can add to your contribution form links in order to collect useful data about where your donations are coming from.

For example, did a donation come from the first link in the email you sent yesterday, your website, or your social media account? Refcodes will record that information for you.

Here are some common use cases for refcodes:

  • If you’re testing content, refcodes will help you determine which message is working best for your supporters.
  • If you’re asking supporters to fundraise on your behalf, or planning an event with fundraising hosts, you can give them custom links with a refcode pre-loaded to track their donations.
  • If you’ve got multiple links in an email, you can find out which link most people are using to give.

There are many more ways for admins to use refcodes. We recommend using refcodes for every fundraising link you send out.


Creating Refcodes

Go to the Contribution Forms tab of your Dashboard and select your form name in the list of forms.

Creating1 Then under the “More” dropdown in the navigation bar at the top of your screen, select “Promote.”

A pop-up will appear, with a field for you to write in refcodes.

Pick a short word or phrase to use as your refcode (you can use letters, numbers, or underscores, but no spaces or punctuation) and type it in the field. Your link will generate at the top. The example below uses “email” for a contribution form link that will be shared in a fundraising email. To get accurate data, make sure that you don’t repeat any refcodes on the same contribution form!

When you’re done creating your refcode, copy the link at the top of the page and place it in a fundraising email or on your website.

You can make as many refcodes as you’d like using this generator. Just copy the new link each time you make a new refcode. For example, you could make a refcode for every person on your team to send to their contacts by using their names.

If you’re using ActBlue Express Lane, refcodes are critical for determining which donation link amounts people are clicking. If you have questions about creating refcodes and using them with ActBlue Express Lane, email us at support@actblue.com.


Analyzing and Visualizing Your Refcodes

To see which refcode raised the most money, click the “Stats” button on the form navbar. 

Your contributions are listed by refcode. You can see how much money each refcode brought in, as well as the conversion rate, mobile donation rate, and recurring stats. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll be able to see the total amount the form brought in.

 If you need to, you can search for a specific refcode. 

Analyzing3

You can also see a visual breakdown of your refcodes in the “Refcode chart” tab. You’ll see a chart like the one below that visualizes your contributions by refcode.

Refcode charts give your team a look at how much your refcodes have raised within a certain time period, how much they’ve raised over time, and even how much they brought in on an hourly basis.

You can look at this chart at various points after sending an email so you know how each refcode is performing.

Each refcode will be represented by a different shape. You can select which refcodes you want to review by clicking on it’s name in the Refcodes key.  This is a quick and easy way to figure out which content and which links are working best.


Using Multiple Refcodes

Sometimes using a single refcode to collect all of your data can get too complicated, especially if you’re running a complex testing program. That’s why we allow you to build a second refcode into your links, using the “refcode2=” parameter. Here’s what it looks like:

Multiple1

The refcode2 parameter won’t display on your Statistics page, but you’ll have access to all of that data when you export the spreadsheet for your contribution form.


Additional Reading

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Sending & Evaluating Contribution Forms

ActBlue user roles and permissions dictate what users can do on our platform. If the tools or features in this article are unavailable to you, speak to your entity…